Hana and Eri, a lesbian couple in Japan, registered under their local government’s partnership system. However, the two still weren’t treated as equal under the law. On top of that, they say they suffered workplace discrimination over their sexual identity.
Officials in Japan are scrambling to pass initiatives to encourage more people to have kids. They range from the thoughtful – such as sponsoring free lunches – to the ridiculous – such as when the government floated spending taxpayer money on AI-driven matchmaking apps.
In a bid to stop overtourism, Yamanashi Prefecture has launched a website and registration system for would-be Mt. Fuji climbers. Learn about the change, where else you can hike Fuji, and what the fees for each trail might be in our latest.
Hundreds of years before Red Bull, the samurai of the house of Date were drinking a powdered concoction said to replenish a warrior's energy. Learn more about the beverage that may well be Japan's first-ever energy drink.
"A bill submitted by the administration of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida would compel the dominant platforms to allow third parties to launch their own app markets and to offer more payment options, while banning the technology giants from giving preferential treatment to their own products."
ICYMI: Apple's "Crush" ad came off as tone-deaf and dystopian in a time when corporations continue to decimate creative industries brutally. Here's why it earned a particularly disdainful reaction in Japan.
I would say, pretty much everything I've heard about Japan is true. Like that the big city transforms into a different beast at night. #Osaka during the day is lovely, but the nights here have a very unique energy, bustling, electric, releasing.